Ovid to his Wife by Anna Laetitia Barbauld
In this imaginative farewell poem from Roman poet Ovid to his wife, English poet Anna Laetitia Barbauld writes of aging. OVID to his WIFE: Imitated from different Parts of his Tristia. Jam mea cygneas...
Tagged: british lit
Dorothy Wordsworth Poetry
He Said He Had Been a Soldier by Dorothy Wordsworth He said he had been a soldier, That his wife and children Had died in Jamaica. He had a begger’s wallet over his shoulders,...
The Revenge by Tennyson
The Revenge: A Ballad of the Fleet by Alfred, Lord Tennyson At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay, And a pinnace, like a flutter’d bird, came flying from far away. ‘Spanish ships...
Chaucer Biography
GEOFFREY CHAUCER (? 1340–1400), English poet, is most famous for his great work “The Canterbury Tales.” His own age delighted in stories, and he gave it the stories it demanded invested with a humanity,...
William Shakespeare Biography
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564–1616), English poet, player and playwright, was baptized in the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire on the 26th of April 1564. The exact date of his birth is not known. Birth...
Lewis Carroll Biography
Best known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll, the author and mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodson (1832–1898), was born at Daresbury, near Warrington, in England on the 27th of January 1832. He was the eldest son...
Francis Thompson Biography
FRANCIS THOMPSON (1859–1907), poet and prose-writer, was born on 18 Dec. 1859 at 7 Winckley Street, in Preston, England. His father, Charles Thompson (1824–1896), a native of Oakham, Rutland, practiced homoeopathy at Preston and...
John Ruskin Biography
John Ruskin (1819 – 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic, and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as architecture, literature, education, myth, ornithology, botany, geology, and political...
The Other Side of the Hedge
In “The Other Side of the Hedge,” English author E. M. Forster seems to take a critical look at the modern quest to make progress without bothering to experience life. The Other Side of...
Christopher Marlowe Biography
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (1564–1593), English dramatist, the father of English tragedy, and [the establisher] of dramatic blank verse, the eldest son of a shoemaker at Canterbury, was born in that city on the 6th of...
William Wordsworth Biography
William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (1770-1850), an English poet, was born at Cockermouth, on the Derwent, in Cumberland, on the 7th of April 1770. Wordsworth’s family and childhood He was the son of John Wordsworth...
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Biography
The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Birth and parents Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), an English poet and philosopher, was born on the 21st of October 1772, at his father’s vicarage of Ottery St Mary’s, Devonshire....
Charles Lamb Biography
Charles Lamb, a British author and critic, is especially remembered for his Essays of Elia and Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his sister Mary.
Oscar Wilde Biography
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an immensely gifted English writer who produced a large variety of work ranging from humorous to tragic. He had the capacity to be ridiculous (The Importance of Being Earnest) as well as deadly serious (De Profundis).
George Herbert Biography
George Herbert (1593–1633) wrote some of the most beautiful devotional poetry in the English language. Learn more about this poet’s life and work.
Social Background of Pride and Prejudice by Pamela Whalan
The Social Background of Pride and Prejudice by Pamela Whalan Matrimony and Finances: Women’s Options, Marriage Settlements, and Family Obligations Cost of Living: Travel and Clothing Earning Money: Property, Military, Law, and Church Work...
The Alarming Spread of Poetry by P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse, one of the funniest writers to ever appear in print, offers a tongue-in-cheek essay on the proliferation of poets. You’ll find additional information about Wodehouse and his writing below this short article....
Jane Austen Biography
This brief Jane Austen biography by David Cody is likely to whet your appetite for learning more about Jane Austen and her works.
Spenser Timeline
What happened during Faerie Queene author Edmund Spenser’s life? This Spenser timeline covers the years from Spenser’s birth in 1552 to his death in 1599.
Edmund Spenser Biography
The Life of Edmund Spenser Author of The Faerie Queene Spenser biography Dr. George Armstrong Wauchope, Professor of English, South Carolina College Birth and early years Edmund Spenser was born in London near the...
T. S. Eliot Biography
This biography of T.S. Eliot comes from the Yale Modernism Lab, where you’ll find a wealth of resources about modernist writers in the years 1914-1926. You can view their original works and find out...
C. S. Lewis Biography
British writer and scholar C.S Lewis (1898–1963) is the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, Till We Have Faces, Mere Christianity, and many scholarly works.
George Orwell Timeline by Steven Kreis
George Orwell, 1903-1950 From The History Guide by Dr. Steven Kreis | Resources | Chronology | Select Bibliography | Resources George Orwell (The Chestnut Tree Cafe) George Orwell George Orwell (O. Dag) George Orwell (Petri Liukkonen)...
Robert Louis Stevenson Biography
Robert Louis Stevenson Biography By Richard Dury, from the RLS Website Life and Publications Summary Robert Lewis (later: “Louis”) Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on 13 November 1850. His father Thomas belonged to...
John Keats Biography (1911)
John Keats (1795 – 1821) was an English Romantic poet, often mentioned along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Brontë Resources Index
The Brontë sisters read widely, wrote passionately, and created enduring works drawn from their surroundings and imagination. Explore their writings and their world through the resources below. Charlotte Brontë Emily Brontë Brontë Sisters Context...
Music the Brontë Sisters May Have Known
Music in the Brontë Sisters’ World Music and musical appreciation were, in the time of the Brontë sisters, considered to be part of the general set of “feminine accomplishments”. As the daughters of an Anglican...
Jonathan Swift Biography
This Swift biography paints a vivid portrait of the life and works of Jonathan Swift, an early British novelist. Introduction to Literature, Module 1.9.
Lord Byron Biography
Overview of Byron’s life Parents and birth Raised by his mother First love Pigots and poetry Out on his own Criticism and triumph House of Lords Travels across Europe Return to England “Childe Harold”...
Charlotte Brontë Biography
The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell “Hand in hand they used to make their way to the glorious moors, which in after days they loved so passionately.” The Children Who Never Played...
